Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
on the Whole Bible

Three chapters we had concerning Tyre and its king; next follow four
chapters concerning Egypt and its king. This is the first of them.
Egypt had formerly been a house of bondage to God's people; of late
they had had but too friendly a correspondence with it, and had
depended too much upon it; and therefore, whether the prediction
reached Egypt or no, it would be of use to Israel, to take them off
from their confidence in their alliance with it. The prophecies against
Egypt, which are all laid together in these four chapters, were of five
several dates; the first in the 10th year of the captivity
(ver. 1),
the second in the 27th
(ver. 17),
the third in the 11th year and the first month
(ch. xxx. 20),
the fourth in the 11th year and the third month
(ch. xxxi. 1),
the fifth in the 12th year
(ch. xxxii. 1),
and another in the same year,
ver. 17.
In this chapter we have,
I. The destruction of Pharaoh foretold, for his dealing deceitfully
with Israel,
ver. 1-7.
II. The desolation of the land of Egypt foretold,
ver. 8-12.
III. A promise of the restoration thereof, in part, after forty years,
ver. 13-16.
IV. The possession that should be given to Nebuchadnezzar of the land
of Egypt,
ver. 17-20.
V. A promise of mercy to Israel,
ver. 21.

Pride of Pharaoh; The Ruin of Pharaoh.

B. C. 589.

1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day
of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and
prophesy against him, and against all Egypt:
3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am
against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth
in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine
own, and I have made it for myself.
4 But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish
of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up
out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers
shall stick unto thy scales.
5 And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and
all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields;
thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given
thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the
heaven.
6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the
LORD, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of
Israel.
7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break,
and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou
brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.

Here is,
I. The date of this prophecy against Egypt. It was in the tenth year
of the captivity, and yet it is placed after the prophecy against
Tyre, which was delivered in the eleventh year, because, in the
accomplishment of the prophecies, the destruction of Tyre happened
before the destruction of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar's gaining Egypt was
the reward of his service against Tyre; and therefore the
prophecy against Tyre is put first, that we may the better observe
that. But particular notice must be taken of this, that the first
prophecy against Egypt was just at the time when the king of Egypt was
coming to relieve Jerusalem and raise the siege
(Jer. xxxvii. 5),
but did not answer the expectations of the Jews from them. Note, It is
good to foresee the failing of all our creature-confidences, then when
we are most in temptation to depend upon them, that we may cease
from man.

II. The scope of this prophecy. It is directed against Pharaoh king
of Egypt, and against all Egypt,v. 2.
The prophecy against Tyre began with the people, and then proceeded
against the prince. But this begins with the prince, because it began
to have its accomplishment in the insurrections and rebellions of the
people against the prince, not long after this.

III. The prophecy itself. Pharaoh Hophrah (for so was the reigning
Pharaoh surnamed) is here represented by a great dragon, or
crocodile, that lies in the midst of his rivers, as Leviathan in
the waters, to play therein,v. 3.
Nilus, the river of Egypt, was famed for crocodiles. And what is the
king of Egypt, in God's account, but a great dragon, venomous
and mischievous? Therefore says God, I am against thee. I am above
thee; so it may be read. How high soever the princes and
potentates of the earth are, there is a higher than they
(Eccl. v. 8),
a God above them, that can control them, and, if they be tyrannical and
oppressive, a God against them, that will be free to reckon with them.
Observe here,

1. The pride and security of Pharaoh. He lies in the midst of his
rivers, rolls himself with a great deal of satisfaction in his
wealth and pleasures; and he says, My river is my own. He boasts
that he is an absolute prince (his subjects are his vassals; Joseph
bought them long ago,
Gen. xlvii. 23),--
that he is a sole prince, and has neither partner in the government nor
competitor for it,--that he is out of debt (what he has is his
own, and none of his neighbours have any demands upon
him),--that he is independent, neither tributary nor accountable to
any. Note, Worldly carnal minds please themselves with, and pride
themselves in, their property, forgetting that whatever we have we have
only the use of it, the property is in God. We ourselves are not our
own, but his. Our tongues are not our own,Ps. xii. 4.
Our river is not our own, for its springs are in God. The most
potent prince cannot call what he has his own, for, though it be so
against all the world, it is not so against God. But Pharaoh's reason
for his pretensions is yet more absurd: My river is my own, for
I have made it for myself. Here he usurps two of the divine
prerogatives, to be the author and the end of his own being and
felicity. He only that is the great Creator can say of this world, and
of every thing in it, I have made it for myself. He calls his
river his own because he looks not unto the Maker thereof, nor has
respect unto him that fashioned it long ago,Isa. xxii. 11.
What we have we have received from God and must use for God, so that we
cannot say, We made it, much less, We made it for ourselves; and why
then do we boast? Note, Self is the great idol that all the world
worships, in contempt of God and his sovereignty.

2. The course God will take with this proud man, to humble him. He is a
great dragon in the waters, and God will accordingly deal with him,
v. 4, 5.
(1.) He will draw him out of his rivers, for he has a hook and a
cord for this leviathan, with which he can manage him,
though none on earth can
(Job xli. 1):
"I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, will cast
thee out of thy palace, out of thy kingdom, out of all those things in
which thou takest such a complacency and placest such a confidence."
Herodotus related of this Pharaoh, who was now king of Egypt, that he
had reigned in great prosperity for twenty-five years, and was so
elevated with his successes that he said that God himself would not
cast him out of his kingdom; but he shall soon be convinced of his
mistake, and what he depended on shall be no defence. God can force men
out of that in which they are most secure and easy.
(2.) All his fish shall be drawn out with him, his servants, his
soldiers, and all that had a dependence on him, as he thought, but
really such as he had dependence upon. These shall stick to his
scales, adhere to their king, resolving to live and die with him.
But,
(3.) The king and his army, the dragon and all the fish that stick to
his scales, shall perish together, as fish cast upon dry ground, and
shall be meat to the beasts and fowls,v. 5.
Now this is supposed to have had its accomplishment soon after, when
this Pharaoh, in defence of Aricius king of Libya, who had been
expelled his kingdom by the Cyrenians, levied a great army, and went
out against the Cyrenians, to re-establish his friend, but was defeated
in battle, and all his forces were put to flight, which gave such
disgust to his kingdom that they rose in rebellion against him. Thus
was he left thrown into the wilderness, he and all the fish of the
river with him. Thus issue men's pride, and presumption, and carnal
security. Thus men justly lose what they might call their own, under
God, when they call it their own against him.

3. The ground of the controversy God has with the Egyptians; it is
because they have cheated his people. They encouraged them to expect
relief and assistance from them when they were in distress, but failed
them
(v. 6, 7):
Because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.
They pretended to be a staff for them to lean upon, but, when any
stress was laid upon them, they were either weak and could not or
treacherous and would not do that for them which was expected. They
broke under them, to their great disappointment and amazement,
so that they rent their shoulder and made all their loins to
be at a stand. The king of Egypt, it is probable, had encouraged
Zedekiah to break his league with the king of Babylon, with a promise
that he would stand by him, which, when he failed to do, to any
purpose, it could not but put them into a great consternation. God had
told them, long since, that the Egyptians were broken reeds,
Isa. xxx. 6, 7.
Rabshakeh had told them so,
Isa. xxxvi. 6.
And now they found it so. It was indeed the folly of Israel to trust
them, and they were well enough served when they were deceived in them.
God was righteous in suffering them to be so. But that is no excuse at
all for the Egyptians' falsehood and treachery, nor shall it secure
them from the judgments of that God who is and will be the avenger of
all such wrongs. It is a great sin, and very provoking to God, as well
as unjust, ungrateful, and very dishonourable and unkind, to put a
cheat upon those that put a confidence in us.

Fall and Restoration of Egypt.

B. C. 589.

8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring a
sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.
9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they
shall know that I am the LORD: because he hath said, The river
is mine, and I have made it.
10 Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy
rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and
desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of
Ethiopia.
11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast
shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.
12 And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of
the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the
cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I
will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse
them through the countries.
13 Yet thus saith the Lord GOD; At the end of forty years will
I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were
scattered:
14 And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will
cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of
their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom.
15 It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it
exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish
them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.
16 And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of
Israel, which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they
shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord
GOD.

This explains the foregoing prediction, which was figurative, and looks
something further. Here is a prophecy,

I. Of the ruin of Egypt. The threatening of this is very full and
particular; and the sin for which this ruin shall be brought upon them
is their pride,
v. 9.
They said, The river is mine and I have made it; therefore their
land shall spue them out.
1. God is against them, both against the king and against the people,
against thee and against thy rivers. Waters signify people
and multitudes,Rev. xvii. 15.
2. Multitudes of them shall be cut off by the sword of war, a sword
which God will bring upon them to destroy both man and beast,
the sword of civil war.
3. The country shall be depopulated. The land of Egypt shall be
desolate and waste
(v. 9),
the country not cultivated, the cities not inhabited. The wealth of
both was their pride, and that God will take away. It shall be
utterly waste (wastes of waste, so the margin reads it), and
desolate
(v. 10);
neither men nor beasts shall pass through it, nor shall it be
inhabited
(v. 11);
it shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are so,v. 12.
This was the effect not so much of those wars spoken of before, which
were made by them, but of the war which the king of Babylon made upon
them. It shall be desolate from one end of the land to the other,
from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia. The
sin of pride is enough to ruin a whole nation.
4. The people shall be dispersed and scattered among the nations
(v. 12),
so that those who thought the balance of power was in their hand should
now become a contemptible people. Such a fall does a haughty spirit go
before.

II. Of the restoration of Egypt after awhile,
v. 13.
Egypt shall lie desolate forty years
(v. 12)
and then I will bring again the captivity of Egypt,v. 14.
Some date the forty years from Nebuchadnezzar's destroying Egypt,
others from the desolation of Egypt some time before; however, they end
about the first year of Cyrus, when the seventy years' captivity of
Judah ended, or soon after. Then this prediction was accomplished,
1. That God will gather the Egyptians out of all the countries into
which they were dispersed, and make them to return to the land of
their habitation, and give them a settlement there again,
v. 14.
Note, Though God will find out a way to humble the proud, yet he will
not contend for ever, no, not with them in this world.
2. That yet they shall not make a figure again as they have done. Egypt
shall be a kingdom again, but it shall be the basest of the
kingdoms
(v. 15);
it shall have but little wealth and power, and shall not extend its
conquests as formerly; it shall be the tail of the nations, and not the
head. It is a mercy that it shall become a kingdom again, but, to
humble it, it shall be a despicable kingdom; it shall be a long time
before it recover any thing like its ancient lustre. For two reasons it
shall be thus mortified:--
(1.) That it may not domineer over its neighbours, that it may not
exalt itself above the nations, nor rule over the
nations, as it has done, but that it may know what it is to be low
and despised. Note, Those who abuse their power will justly be
stripped of it; and God, as King of nations, will find out a way to
maintain the injured rights and liberties, not only of his own, but of
other nations.
(2.) That it may not deceive the people of God
(v. 16):
It shall no more be the confidence of the house of Israel; they
shall no more be in temptation to trust in it as they have done, which
is a sin that brings their iniquity to remembrance, that is,
provokes God to punish them not for that only, but for all their other
sins. Or it puts them in mind of their idolatries to return to
them, when they look to the idolaters, to repose a confidence in
them. Note, The creatures we confide in are often therefore
ruined, because there is no other way effectually to cure us of our
confidence in them. Rather than Israel shall be ensnared again, the
whole land of Egypt shall be laid waste. He that once gave Egypt for
their ransom
(Isa. xliii. 3)
will now give Egypt for their cure; and it shall be destroyed rather
than Israel shall not in this particular be reformed. God, not only in
justice, but in wisdom and goodness to us, breaks those creature-stays
which we lean too much upon, and makes them to be no more, that they
may be no more our confidence.

A Promise to Nebuchadnezzar.

B. C. 589.

17 And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the
first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the
LORD came unto me, saying,
18 Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army
to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made
bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor
his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against
it:
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will give the
land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall
take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it
shall be the wages for his army.
20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour
wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me,
saith the Lord GOD.
21 In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to
bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the
midst of them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

The date of this prophecy is observable; it was in the twenty-seventh
year of Ezekiel's captivity, sixteen years after the prophecy in the
former part of the chapter, and almost as long after those which follow
in the next chapters; but it comes in here for the explication of all
that was said against Egypt. After the destruction of Jerusalem
Nebuchadnezzar spent two or three campaigns in the conquest of the
Ammonites and Moabites and making himself master of their countries.
Then he spent thirteen years in the siege of Tyre. During all that time
the Egyptians were embroiled in war with the Cyrenians and one with
another, by which they were very much weakened and impoverished; and
just at the end of the siege of Tyre God delivers this prophecy to
Ezekiel, to signify to him that that utter destruction of Egypt which
he had foretold fifteen or sixteen years before, which had been but in
part accomplished hitherto, should now be completed by Nebuchadnezzar.
The prophecy which begins here, it should seem, is continued to the
twentieth verse
of the next chapter. And Dr. Lightfoot observes that it is the last
prophecy we have of this prophet, and should have been last in the
book, but is laid here, that all the prophecies against Egypt might
come together. The particular destruction of Pharaoh-Hophrah, foretold
in the former part of this chapter, was likewise foretold
Jer. xliv. 30.
This general devastation of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar was foretold
Jer. xliii. 10.
Observe,

I. What success God would give to Nebuchadnezzar and his forces against
Egypt. God gave him that land, that he might take the
spoil and prey of it,
v. 19, 20.
It was a cheap and easy prey. He subdued it with very little
difficulty; the blood and treasure expended upon the conquest of it
were inconsiderable. But it was a rich prey, and he carried off a great
deal from it that was of value. Their having been divided among
themselves, no doubt, gave a common enemy great advantage against them,
who, when they had been so long preying upon one another, soon made a
prey of them all. En! quo discordia cives perduxit miseros--What
wretchedness does civil discord bring! Jeremiah foretold that
Nebuchadnezzar should array himself with the land of Egypt as a
shepherd puts on his coat, which intimates what a rich and cheap
prey it should be.

II. Upon what considerations God would give Nebuchadnezzar this success
against Egypt; it was to be a recompence to him for the hard service
with which he had caused his army to serve against Tyre,
v. 18, 20.
1. The taking of Tyre was a tedious piece of work; it cost
Nebuchadnezzar abundance of blood and treasure. It held out thirteen
years; all that time the Chaldean army was hard at it, to make
themselves masters of it. A large current of the sea, between Tyre and
the continent, was filled up with earth, and many other difficulties
which were thought insuperable they had to struggle with; but so great
a prince, having begun such an undertaking, thought himself bound in
honour to push it on, whatever it cost him. How many thousand lives
have been sacrificed to such points of honour as this as! In
prosecuting this siege every head was made bald, and every shoulder
peeled, with carrying burdens and labouring in the water when they
had a strong tide and a strong town to contend with. Egypt, a large
kingdom, being divided within itself, is easily conquered; Tyre, a
single city, being unanimous, is with difficulty subdued. Those that
have much to do in the world find some affairs go on a great deal more
readily and easily than others. But,
2. In this service God own that they wrought for him,v. 20.
He set them at work, for the humbling of a proud city and its king,
though they meant not so, neither did their heart think so, who
were employed in it. Note, Even great men and bad men are tools that
God makes use of, and are working for him even when they are
pursuing their own covetous and ambitious designs; so wonderfully does
God overrule all to his own glory. Yet,
3. For this service he had no wages nor his army. He was
at a vast expense to take Tyre; and when he had it, though it was a
very rich city, and he promised himself good plunder for his army from
it, he was disappointed; the Tyrians sent away by ship their best
effects, and threw the rest into the sea, so that they had nothing but
bare walls. Thus are the children of this world ordinarily frustrated
in their highest expectations from it. Therefore,
4. He shall have the spoil of Egypt to recompense him for his service
against Tyre. Note, God will be behind-hand with none for any service
they do for him, but, one way or other, will recompense them for it;
none shall kindle a fire on his altar for nought. The service done for
him by worldly men, with worldly designs, shall be recompensed with a
mere worldly reward, which his faithful servants, that have a sincere
regard to his will and glory, would not be put off with. This accounts
for the prosperity of wicked men in this world; God is in it paying
them for some service or other, in which he has made use of them.
Verily they have their reward. Let none envy it them. The
conquest of Egypt is spoken of as Nebuchadnezzar's full reward,
for that completed his dominion over the then known world in a manner;
that was the last of the kingdoms he subdued; when he was master of
that he became the head of gold.

III. The mercy God had in store for the house of Israel soon after.
When the tide is at the highest it will turn, and so it will when it is
at the lowest. Nebuchadnezzar was in the zenith of his glory when he
had conquered Egypt, but within a year after he ran mad
(Dan. iv.),
was so seven years, and within a year or two after he had recovered his
senses he resigned his life. When he was at the highest Israel was at
the lowest; then were they in the depth of their captivity, their bones
dead and dry; but in that day the horn of the house of Israel shall
bud forth,v. 21.
The day of their deliverance shall begin to dawn, and they shall have
some little reviving in their bondage, in the honour that shall be
done,
1. To their princes; they are the horns of the house of Israel,
the seat of their glory and power. These began to bud forth when Daniel
and his fellows were highly preferred in Babylon; Daniel sat in the
gate of the city; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were set over the
affairs of the province
(Dan. ii. 49);
these were all of the king's seed, and of the princes,Dan. i. 3.
And it was within a year after the conquest of Egypt that they were
thus preferred; and, soon after, three of them were made famous by the
honour God put upon them in bringing them alive out of the burning
fiery furnace. This might very well be called the budding forth of
the horn of the house of Israel. And, some years after, this
promise had a further accomplishment in the enlargement and elevation
of Jehoiachin king of Judah,
Jer. lii. 31, 32.
They were both tokens of God's favour to Israel, and happy omens.
2. To their prophets. And I will give thee the opening of the
mouth. Though none of Ezekiel's prophecies, after this, are
recorded, yet we have reason to think he went on prophesying, and with
more liberty and boldness, when Daniel and his fellows were in power,
and would be ready to protect him not only from the Babylonians, but
from the wicked ones of his own people. Note, It bodes well to a
people when God enlarges the liberties of his ministers and they are
countenanced and encouraged in their work.